THE SAUNA
Maine's most unique commercial sauna design. Ease your mind and cleanse your body at Maine's originally designed traditional Finnish wood-fired sauna steam bath

Experience our temple in the woods, a circular, cedar-lined, wood fired sauna near our spring fed mountain brook. Relax, release and detoxify. Redefine your past sauna experiences and enter our spacious, clean and inviting sauna, complete with 3 windows overlooking the surrounding forest.

Once the sauna room reaches between its therapeutic temperature of 150- 200ºF, the bather is invited to settle into the soothing heat in the clean, natural environment offered here. Fresh mountain spring water is then ladled over the hot lava rocks, creating a circulating steam that envelopes the bather. Our sauna offers an inventive air circulating system so you never feel like its hard to breathe. Allow the deep detoxification and relaxation to begin. Throughout the sweat, fully experience the sauna bath in the customary way by pouring pure water over your body, rinsing off toxins, and scrubbing down with natural soap, and gently cooling down.

"Make our sauna your own healing experience."

Traditional Sauna Experience:
Finnish tradition suggests that the sauna space is sacred. The conversation stays light and loving with silence during the Loïyly; when the water steams on the rocks. Begin your cleanse by sitting in the heat and steam from 10-20 minutes. Once you feel your core body temperature rise, and your body will tell you when it is time, feel free to exit and rest in the transition room or outside, allowing your core temperature to decrease. Once you have allowed the heat to settle, return to the sauna. You repeat this process as many times as it feels right for you. For your final round, take a thorough rinse down/bath to complete your cleansing. Relax in the transistion room until you become dry, cool and grounded. Breathing. Smiling.

Preparing for your sauna experience:
Drink plenty of water before hand and it is suggested to not sweat on a fully belly. Please come to sauna free of scented products, cologne, perfumes, and heavy make-up. These scents can be overwhelming and unhealthy in the steamy environment and skin products both block your pours from the deep cleansing and may stain the raw cedar benches

What to bring:
At least a half gallon of drinking water per person
White face clothe and white, light, or faded bath towel(s)
Dr Bronner's or other earth-friendly soap for final round
Clothing is optional for private appointments and community saunas require bathing suits.

Health Benefits and Considerations for Regular Sauna Usage
Some avid sauna users say that the Sauna has many healthy effects on the mind and body. These sauna lovers enjoy their sauna for many reasons, including these:

• Saunas relax your sore, tight, overworked & tired muscles.

• Saunas are excellent for fighting winter colds.

• Saunas release daily stress and tension.

• You may feel deep relaxation and calm.

• Better and deeper sleep after a sauna.

• Revitalizes the body and mind.

• Refreshes the skin - deep cleans and moisturizes

• Saunas are great for lower back pain & arthritis.

• Reduces aches and pains in joints.

• Sauna time is a time of peace.

Contraindications for the sauna:
Intense sauna heat is not recommended during:
• High-risk pregnancies. (Consult your physician prior to sauna appt.)
• For patients with unstable angina pectoris, recent myocardial
infarction, and severe aortic stenosis
• Decompensated heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia are relative
contraindications.
• Alcohol and/or drug intake before or during sauna bathing can create serious health risks and impaired judgment. For these reasons, the partaking of drugs or alcoholic beverages is not permitted at our sauna.

"Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing Outweigh Risks"

Samer Ellahham, MD, of the Washington Hospital Center (DC), Division of Cardiology and Minna L. Hannuksela, MD, of the Department of Internal Medicine and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Finland. Feb 2001 issue of the "American Journal of Medicine.

SUMMARY: "Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing Outweigh Risks"

"For most healthy people, as well as for most patients with stable coronary heart disease, sauna bathing is well tolerated and safe. The physiological and hormonal changes that occur during sauna bathing are transient. Sauna bathing does not cause drying of the skin. The effects of hyperthermia on the pharmacokinetics of several orally administered drugs are minor. Sauna bathing does not lower fertility in men or women with uncomplicated pregnancies. Healthy children who are accustomed to sauna bathing tolerate it well. Sauna bathing has also been shown to be safe for most coronary patients with stable angina pectoris or prior myocardial infarction. The risks of myocardial infarction, coronary death and sudden death are lower during sauna bathing than during other daily activities."

Sauna bathing may also tolerate therapeutic value. Some studies have suggested that regular sauna bathing may lower the blood pressure in patients with hypertension and increase the left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with chronic heart failure. Sauna bathing may also improve lung function in patients with obstructive pulmonary disease and alleviate pain in patients with rheumatic disease. Although sweating may increase itching in patients with atopic dermatitis, patients with psoriasis may experience some relief. Larger randomized studies are needed to establish the clinical relevance of these findings.

The adjacent transition room is a space where you can cool off, practice yoga postures, enjoy refreshment or simply restore from the intense heat. We are tucked in the woods where you can hear and visit our mountain brook in between rounds. Relax on our Zen deck, or if you like, dip into a nearby pool in our magical mountain brook and return to the sauna completely refreshed and ready for another round.

Our sauna offers spaciousness and light for the bather with multiple windows and soft candle lighting. Fresh oxygen continuously circulates throughout the sauna so the bather never feels like they can't breathe.

The Loïyly (the steam and spirit of the sauna) rises off the hot lava rocks, circulating round and round so the bather is not hit with a wall of heat, instead is enveloped and surrounded by a soothing, moist heat.

Some people have had a negative sauna experience in the past because they couldn't breathe or it was too cramped, dark, or intense. The artful design of our sauna speaks to all of those typical complaints.

Testimonials

Everything about the sauna at Nurture Through Nature eco-retreat incorporates thoughtful design and a conscious aesthetic that provides the partaker nothing short of an out-of-body experience. From the short walk through the woods to access the sauna, to the low lines of the octagonal roof, to the welcoming front door and anteroom, to the sauna itself. There is nothing like a Finnish sauna to shake winter loose from your bones, and the sauna at NTN speaks to the heart and soul of this ancient tradition.
Laurie LaMountain, Denmark, Maine

I had used saunas before, and was never very enthusiastic about them, so when I was invited to "christen" this new one at NTN, I wasn't expecting very much. I was in for a very pleasant surprise! Unlike the other electric saunas I've been in, this sauna is wood fired, and allows you to pour ample amounts of water onto the hot rocks creating a wonderfully steamy environment. Cool water for pouring over ourselves allowed me to control my temperature and stay comfortable throughout the entire session. Instead of getting out because I couldn't take it anymore, I could have stayed there forever! I can't wait for the next time!
Betsy Curtis, Bridgton, Maine

Has anyone told you that they have had a spontaneous, miraculous healing event after the sauna? Well, I did! The combination of gentle yoga and the deep relaxation and purging that happened in the sauna totally released the pain I had in shoulder.
Doreen Casey, Bethel, Maine

Please remember, it is your responsibility to take good care of yourself while in the sauna.

Health Benefits and Considerations for Regular Sauna Usage sourced from the following website: Barrel Sauna